Bring Me to the Place You Rest
by OrangeGalen
Summary: After all is done, there are a few who remain and remember the cost of peace; those that have lived when others have not. (Memorial Day Tribute) (Oneshot) [Now with 2nd updated version]
1. Goodbye, Original

**This story is in honor of Memorial Day, to all the fallen soldiers who have payed the ultimate price in war.**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or the song used in here**

 **WhiteRose and Bumblebee if you squint.**

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 **Edit on 5/26/15:** Slight changes in wording and some additions, plus more author's notes at the bottom.

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 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

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Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby hobbled down the cobblestone road, her walking rhythm a familiar constant for the past eight years. The wind blew from the west and caused her red cloak to flutter upwards before settling down again. The sky was grey and cloudy, the season changing towards winter, as the air grew crisp and cold. The weather said that it would snow sometime this week, and that occasional flurries would be common throughout the week.

The path stretched on forward up the green hill. A tree stood up near the top, all the leaves gone, blown away by the wind days ago. The branches were bare and exposed, making the tree a pitiful sight.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

The sound echoed in the empty field, as Ruby was the only living thing there. The sound was lonely, as if it broadcasted an unspoken plea to be accompanied by any other sound. But it was a constant companion for Ruby, the only one that she had for five years. All the others had gone. Gone.

They all had a good life until that day. The madwoman, Cinder Fall, had decided to tear everything to pieces. Everything that they had known changed forever that day.

The White Fang had struck during the Vytal festival. For all the security that they had, it wasn't enough to stop them from bombing the stadium in the name of racial equality. Weiss was blinded in her right eye from a piece of shrapnel that cut her face, making the second scar of a growing collection she would get. After then, Beacon had mobilized along with Vale's military force to fight the White Fang. The other Kingdoms had declined to involve themselves, probably waiting to swoop in after the rubble had settled and stake their claim.

The Fang however loosed more Grimm in the city after the Vytal festival, when there was less security and Hunters around. The normal military couldn't handle the creatures of darkness, so it fell mainly to Beacon's Hunters to keep the creatures in check. And for a while they had.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby thought about some of the fights that they had. There were some close calls but they remained mostly unharmed. There was one touch-and-go moment before a Beowolf clawed most of Yang's hair off. After then there weren't many Grimm left in the city. Several blocks had been reduced to rubble however before Yang calmed down.

Ruby smiled to herself. They all had known the risks of being hunters and huntresses and that they would risk their lives almost every day. But it hadn't really sunk in as much as it should of. They all received scars, Weiss getting the most somehow, almost all on her face. Regardless they never really thought of the consequences of what they were doing.

That all changed.

Blake was the first to fall. During the fighting, Roman Torchwick had escaped from prison and started leading his own thugs against Vale. Blake became consumed with vengeance again and attacked head on when he made an appearance one day during a skirmish between the Vale forces and the White Fang. She almost had him, but was stabbed in the back by Adam Taurus, her former comrade. The Vale forces won that day, but Blake bled out before any medical attention could be given to her.

Discrimination killed her because all the medics were treating the _human_ casualties first. Blake died surrounded by the people who had accepted who she was and her past.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

They were never the same after that. It became _real_ for them. They had new fire to stop this conflict before more lives could be claimed. But there was only so much they could do.

Nora was the next to go. During another Grimm raid she was flying around the battlefield with Magnhild, her grenade-launcher/hammer monstrosity, a laugh coming from her mouth, when a Nevermore flew too close and speared her with its feathers in multiple places. She was dead before she hit the ground, the laugh and smile still on her face.

Ren became even more stoic and removed from the others. For all their denials of not being 'together-together', Nora was the closest person to him and her death hit him hard. He was the third. He kept pushing himself to kill as many Grimm and opposing forces that he literally drove himself to sickness, and needed to be confined in the medical wing for his own good. He didn't listen and one night walked off into the Emerald Forest and disappeared. His body was never found, but pieces of StormFlower were discovered around a large pool of bloody grass.

That was how they found the nest of Grimm that had gathered in the forest. While they had been focused on the city, the Grimm had been assembled in the forest for an all out assault. Somehow, Cinder had managed to control the Grimm and make them follow her orders. There were too many to attack directly so that began a series of hit-and-run attacks to whittle away their numbers. Not that it did any good.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Each step Ruby took brought her closer to the top of the hill, to her destination. The tombstones around her brought ghosts from all times to her memory. All these people had fallen during what was now known as the Vale Civil War. There were lines upon lines of tombstones, grave-markers, and other sculptures that marked where one of the fallen now lay. There were so many.

The Grimm kept coming; no matter how many they killed. Before long, Cinder directed them at Beacon, and they were besieged. For near a month, they held out under constant waves of Grimm. Many students and full-fledged hunters had died in that siege. Oobleck, Port, Goodwitch, and even Ozpin himself died defending the school, each taking down hundreds of Grimm before they fell. SSSN were also among the casualties, Neptune and Sun taking down two King Taijitus before falling.

Weiss had recovered from her injury and was defending the western front when an Ursa Major blindsided her with her injured eye. With her Aura nearly depleted from the near constant fighting, she had no chance as the Ursa's claws tore gashes in her back, its claws coming out of her chest. Ruby had noticed too late to save Weiss, but sure as hell killed that Ursa. Weiss died in Ruby's arms, yet another casualty of war. Ruby could still see her friend's blood on her hands if she looked hard enough.

Eventually Beacon had to be evacuated, as the Grimm's numbers had overwhelmed them. But there were too many Grimm preventing the remaining airships from taking off, so Jaune and a few other volunteers stayed behind to give them time to escape. Jaune joked, saying, "Today is a good day to die," a line from one of his favorite sci-fi shows. Pyrrha protested and both Ruby and Yang had to keep her from jumping out to stay with Jaune. Surprisingly, Cardin stayed with Jaune, any animosity forgotten in that moment of understanding one has when they knew they were going to die. All those that stayed behind did, but gave the others a chance to live another day.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

The next few weeks were brutal. The remaining Vale military and Beacon's Hunters fought the White Fang, Cinder's forces, and the Grimm. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Yang were the remaining members of JNPR and RWBY and were often on the front lines of battle. Pyrrha was the next to go, but not in the way that they expected. A Deathstalker clipped her in the side and they barely got her to the medics to prevent the venom from consuming her. However it left her weak and susceptible to disease, so she was moved to strategy, away from the battlefield. Like Ren before her, she withdrew into herself at Jaune's death. She later admitted to Ruby that she loved him, but never admitted it. Ruby nearly admitted something similar years later while visiting Pyrrha in the hospital, but lost her courage and fell quiet.

The fighting continued until, by some miracle, they reached a truce with the White Fang. Since Roman was the main instigator, and Adam the leader, both working on Cinder's orders, the White Fang had fought against whoever Cinder said to. However, Adam had been killed by Yang, getting revenge for Blake's death, and Torchwick defected, seeing as how Cinder had turned into even more of a "pyromaniac, psycho bitch hell-bent on getting power" than normal during the war. He gave the location of where Cinder had holed up before he was assassinated by Mercury and Emerald, both of whom had met their deaths soon after by the sister's retaliation.

They hit Cinder's position hard, and reduced the old castle she was staying at to rubble, burying everything inside, people, Faunus, and Grimm alike. Soon after, the White Fang surrendered and people of Vale thought that they had peace. Ruby should have known it wasn't over.

About a week later, another wave of Grimm attacked Vale, putting an end to the celebrations. More had died, and Ruby lost her leg when an Alpha Beowolf bit it off during one of her more acrobatic moves. She almost died then, but Yang carried her back to the hospital and they had given her a robotic replacement leg. However, it couldn't hold up when Ruby used her Semblance.

The speed that she always enjoyed could never be achieved again.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby grimaced as she thought back to having her new leg attached. Even when she had soft shoes on, it still made a thumping sound even before it malfunctioned. She could move it and use it just fine, but it didn't feel right. It _still_ doesn't feel right after eight years of having it. It just wasn't a part of her. It was like someone had clamped a piece of metal that you could control onto you. It just wasn't her.

Cinder had escaped when they attacked the castle and had gathered more Grimm to her side, now fighting just to wipe out Vale completely. The sides that had previously fought now banded together to take her down.

The last battle was a desperate struggle. Man, woman, Human, Faunus all fought against the Grimm, and died. Ruby was there, swinging Crescent Rose, ending those Grimm's lives, just without her agility that she was renowned for. Eventually, Yang and Ruby fought their way to Cinder. No words were spoken as all three attacked each other. The sisters eventually killed Cinder, but the Grimm became wild and needed to be destroyed.

There were just too many and the order to retreat was given. Ruby didn't notice that Yang wasn't with them until she glanced back and saw a single yellow dot amongst the sea of black, red, and white. She tried rushing to her, but her leg couldn't handle her Semblance and failed, stiffening up, unable to bend at the knee anymore. The leg was ruined and because it was attached to the skin, they couldn't remove it and replace it, otherwise the nerve endings would be too badly damaged to get anything from it.

Ruby watched on as the yellow dot vanished under that sea just before a wave of flames blew outwards and _vaporized_ the Grimm around her. A smoking crater was all that was left of where the Grimm were. In the center was one splash of color.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby stopped as she reached the top of the hill. In front of her were seven tombstones, Four and then three behind that.

First was Team JNPR: Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. All four names were now down in the history books as heroes. Pyrrha was the last one to go, suffering from sicknesses the rest of her life from the Deathstalker's poison, almost living in the hospital for three years, until she caught one too many colds. Her body just gave out on her, leading to her passing away in her sleep, the only one out of them to do so. Her grave was put between Nora and Ren's, to complete the Team's name. The remains of Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha were buried there, with Ren's weapons in lieu of his body.

Ruby shuffled to each of their graves and put a flower on each. Jaune got a magnolia and a henbane as remembrance to his self-proclaimed 'lady killer' days, Nora got a coreopsios, which fit her personality perfectly, Pyrrha, a motherwort and a snapdragon, and Ren, a lotus like his symbol was.

Ruby stood in front of their graves in silence. She then spoke softly, "I know it's been a while, but I'm here again. I'll never forget you four. You stood by us through it all: in laughs and fun, and when the going got though. We could always count on you to have our backs wherever we were. I don't think words can fully explain how grateful we… I am for you. I'm proud to call you all my friends. And you always will be. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora. I'll never forget."

Ruby turned away, holding back tears, and moved past them to the three graves behind them. WBY. The three people who have known Ruby the best. They stuck together through it all for as long as they lived. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. All heroes of the Vale Civil War. Ruby didn't care about the title they all carried. It didn't mean anything to her. They were gone. Never to be seen again.

Ruby went to Weiss' grave first and placed a red and a white rose intertwined on the headstone. "Hey Weiss. It's been a while hasn't it? I'm not exactly as fast as I used to be, so you can't hold that against me this time." Ruby cracked a tearful smile. "I don't suppose you'll ever forget how we met. If we knew how much that accident would change us, would we still do it again? I'd like to believe so. Heh, I can almost hear you say, _'of course you dolt'_. I never grew tired of hearing you call me that. It just showed me how much you cared for me. I don't think I ever admitted it, but I might have wanted you to call me that, just so I could know that you cared. It was all that I could get…" She trailed off, some things still unsaid. "You were my partner, and I always will treasure that forever. See you Snow Angel."

Ruby moved over to Blake's. "Blake, you're probably wishing that you had a book right now. Or maybe you ended up in a giant library for all I know. I just hope you're happy. You might already know this, but Yang got Adam for you. She almost shut down after you died, but pulled through to save everybody. I think it might have been you spurring her on, even in death. You were an inspiration to us all. Changing who you were so you could change your life. You were one of the first people I got along with in Beacon, and proved that I could have friends outside of Yang." Ruby placed a kennedia on her grave. "Thank you."

She turned to the last grave, tears falling freely. She fought to keep her voice steady. "Yang. Sis. _Long_ time no see." Ruby smirked. "See, I can do puns too. You'd probably be proud of me for that. Things aren't the same anymore. Vale's been rebuilt, Beacon's running again and guess what, I'm a teacher! Can you believe that? Who'd want some old cripple teaching them. Yeah, yeah, I'm not _that_ old, but it's the thought. I also feel old as well. Older than my twenty-five year body.

"You saved us all, you know. Your stubbornness saved everyone again. All of Vale thinks you're a hero. I know that you're a hero. I knew that ages before anyone else when we were kids. You'd always look out for me, always take care of me, bake me cookies, arrange my birthday parties, and give Yule gifts to… You were always my hero Yang…"

Ruby couldn't take it and collapsed crying, her false leg sticking out at an odd angle. "Oh Oum, it hurts. It hurts that you're gone. It's been years but it still hurts. I miss you so much." Ruby didn't talk for a while as her sobs overwhelmed her. She cried for ages mourning everyone. It hurt, and it was a pain that would never go away. As she cried, snowflakes started drifting down from the sky, lightly coating the ground.

"I-I'm sorry," Ruby said, sniffling as she wiped her nose and tears away. "I just… I feel it Yang. As much as you'll probably tell me otherwise, I know I don't have long left before I'm taking my spot in the ground next to Weiss. It's not going to happen immediately. But I can feel it. Don't worry, I'll make the most of my life while I can, teach others how to build their own sniper-scythes and use them properly like Uncle Qrow did, maybe become headmistress for a while. But I know I'll die sooner rather than later. I just… feel it. I'll see you again, along with Weiss and Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Not for years though. But I'll see you again."

Ruby looked up at the sky, blinking away snowflakes that got in her face. She sighed and placed a sunflower and a yellow tulip on her grave. "I love you Yang. My sister." She looked at the three graves in front of her. "My sisters."

Ruby put a hand on Yang's stone and pushed herself up, her leg protesting the awkward movement before she steadied herself. Ruby gazed at the stones around her before smiling in memory. She started walking away.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

The constant sound of her life sounded less ominous now, as if a question had been answered, a gift given.

Ruby went back down the path that she took out of the cemetery. As she walked, a song, almost forgotten came to her lips. She sung softly at first, but built strength later until her voice rang through the cemetery.

 _~"I saw the light fade from the sky,  
_ _On the wind I heard a sigh.  
_ _As the snowflakes cover  
_ _my fallen sisters  
_ _I will say this last goodbye._

 _Night is now falling,  
_ _So ends this day.  
_ _The road is now calling  
_ _And I must away._

 _Over hill, and under tree,  
_ _Through lands where never light has shone,  
_ _By silver streams that run down to the sea._

 _Under cloud, beneath the stars,  
_ _Over snow and winter's morn  
_ _I turn at last to paths that lead home,_

 _And though where the road then takes me,  
_ _I cannot tell.  
_ _We came all this way  
_ _But now comes the day  
_ _To bid you farewell._

 _Many places I have been,  
_ _Many sorrows I have seen;  
_ _But I don't regret,  
_ _Nor will I forget  
_ _All who took that road with me._

 _Night is now falling,  
_ _So ends this day.  
_ _The road is now calling  
_ _And I must away._

 _Over hill, and under tree,  
_ _Through lands where never light has shone,  
_ _By silver streams that run down to the sea._

 _To these memories I will hold,  
_ _With your blessing I will go  
_ _To turn at last to paths that lead home,_

 _And though where the road then takes me,  
_ _I cannot tell  
_ _We came all this way  
_ _But now comes the day  
_ _To bid you farewell."~_

Ruby turned to look behind her, the tombstones on top of the hill just barely visible. Softly, she sang one last line.

 _~"I bid you all a very fond farewell…"~_

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Song: _The Last Goodbye_ -by Howard Shore

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 **Honestly, I cried writing this. Several times.**

 **[Edit 5/26/15]:  
I looked around for ages getting all the flowers for the people, and decided to put a list up after I stopped crying.  
Jaune: _Magnolia_ ; Nobility and Perseverance. _Henbane_ ; For males to attract love from females.  
Nora: _Coreopsios_ ; Always Cheerful.  
Pyrrha: _Motherwort_ ; Secret love. _Snapdragon_ ; Gracious lady, strength.  
Ren: _Locus_ ; Purity, spirituality, faithfulness**

 **Weiss: _Red and White Rose tied together_ ; Unity.  
Blake: _Kennedia_ ; Intellectual beauty.  
Yang: _Sunflower_ ; Unwavering faith. _Tulip (Yellow)_ ; There's sunshine in your smile.  
[End Edit]. **

**Please remember the fallen.**

 **-OrangeGalen out.**


	2. Goodbye, 2nd Version

**Hello. Strange that this gets a second chapter, but it's been bugging me for a while and instead of just editing the first one, I decided to keep the original and have the updated as well. Volume 3 ended and I wanted this to be a little closer to what happened, though is still AU and I cherry-picked what I wanted for this. Plus it's so I can use this for a future RWBY story ;) You'll see in time.**

 **So once again, brace your heart and read the 2nd Version of _Bring Me to the Place You Rest_.**

 **This was written originally for Memorial Day, to all the fallen soldiers who have paid the ultimate price in war.**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or the song used in here.**

 **WhiteRose and Bumblebee if you squint.**

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 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

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Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby hobbled down the cobblestone road, her walking rhythm a familiar constant for the past eight years. The wind blew from the west and caused her red and slightly faded cloak to flutter upwards before settling down again. The sky was grey and cloudy, the season changing towards winter, as the air grew crisp and cold. The weather channel said that it would snow sometime this week, and that occasional flurries would be common afterwards.

The path stretched on forward up the green hill. A tree stood up near the top, all the leaves gone, blown away by the wind days ago. The branches were bare and exposed, making the tree a pitiful sight.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

The sound echoed in the empty field, as Ruby was the only living thing there. The sound was lonely, as if it broadcasted an unspoken plea to be accompanied by any other sound. But it was a constant companion for Ruby, the only one that she had for five years now. All the others had gone. Gone.

They all had a good life full of shining light until that day. When the madwoman Cinder Fall decided to tear everything to pieces for a chance at a delusional throne. Everything that they had known changed forever that day.

There had been incidents leading up to the end; Yang seeming to break Mercury's leg, malfunctions in the actual stadium, and other small things that had built up 'till the last day, the one-on-one finals round with Pyrrha versus Penny, ending in a upset with the unbeatable champion finally beaten.

And then the White Fang had struck. For all the security that they had, it wasn't enough to stop them from bombing the stadium in the name of racial equality. Casualties were high and Weiss was blinded in her right eye from a piece of shrapnel that cut her face, making the second scar of a growing collection she would get.

Then somehow the Atlesian Knights and other war robots had been taken over by a virus and started attacking what once were allies… and the virus had not spared Penny, who had no control over her actions as she was slaughtering innocents, leaving them in pools of their own blood, their eyes wide and white. It had been the first of two times Ruby had seen Penny cry real tears, which should have been impossible.

The second was after Ruby had to destroy Penny to protect a beaten Pyrrha and she cradled her friend in her arms. Penny may have been made out of metal, but her soul was just as real as anyone else's.

The Grimm started invading the city and it wasn't long before they were almost overrun. But there was one piece of good news: the Knights had been remotely shut down when Ironwood finally got to his ship and drove off Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan by himself. After then, things had stabilized slightly, though the CCT had been disabled for the foreseeable future by the same virus that corrupted the Knights, leaving the Kingdoms in a near total communications blackout.

Also as a side note, Amity Coliseum had crashed from all the damage done to it. The monument of the Four Kingdoms, gone, demolished. A fitting and ironic metaphor.

Beacon fully mobilized along with Vale's military force to fight the White Fang, which had attempted to take over Beacon, attempted being the key word. Thank Oum for Ozpin. The other Kingdoms had declined to involve themselves as they suddenly had their own problems and Grimm attacks. No help was asked or looked for from Atlas after the Knight fiasco however, and many in Vale couldn't care less what happened to their northernmost sister kingdom.

The Fang however loosed more Grimm directly into the city after the Vytal festival, when most of the other Hunters and schools had left. The normal military couldn't handle the creatures of darkness, so it fell mainly to Beacon's Hunters to keep the creatures in check. And for a while they had.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby thought about some of the fights that they had. There were some close calls but they remained mostly unharmed. There was one touch-and-go moment before a Beowolf clawed most of Yang's hair off. After then there weren't many Grimm left in the city. Several blocks had been reduced to rubble however before Yang calmed down and she accepted that she'd have a shoulder length cut now. Ruby smiled to herself, remembering the _godawful_ puns Yang had made. _"I was a_ hair's _breath away from kicking the bucket." "I was cutting it a bit close, don'tcha think? Eh? Eh?"_ She missed hearing those stupid puns.

They all had known the risks of being hunters and huntresses and that they would risk their lives almost every day. But it hadn't really sunk in as much as it should of. They all received scars. Weiss somehow got the most, almost all on her face, beautifully marring the porcelain skin. Not that Ruby would say it aloud for… several reasons.

Regardless they never really thought of the consequences of what their job was as Huntresses.

That all changed.

Blake was the first to fall. During the fighting, she had run into her old White Fang partner and current leader of the group, Adam Taurus. Her emotions overcame her, especially when Yang had been fighting him just before and had been unprepared for him, getting stabbed in the gut. Blake had charged in, regardless of her personal safety.

The Vale forces had technically won that skirmish, driving off the Fang, but it felt like a defeat. Blake bled out before any medical attention could get to her.

Discrimination killed her because all the medics were treating the _human_ casualties first. Blake died surrounded by the people who had accepted who she was, and not _what_ she was, and her darkened past.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

They were never the same after that. It became _real_ for them. Yang recovered physically, but mentally… mentally they all hadn't, from the shock of a dear friend dying, but Yang took it the hardest. A new fire grew in them to stop this conflict before more lives could be claimed. But there was only so much they could do and could only be in one place at a time.

Nora was the next to go. During another Grimm raid she was flying around the battlefield with Magnhild, her grenade-launcher/hammer monstrosity, a laugh coming from her mouth, when a Nevermore flew too close and speared her with its feathers in multiple places. She was dead before she hit the ground, the laugh and smile still on her face.

Ren became even more stoic and removed from the others. For all their denials of not being 'together-together', Nora was the closest person to him and her death hit him hard. He was the third. He kept pushing himself to kill as many Grimm and opposing forces that he literally drove himself to sickness, and needed to be confined in the medical wing to recover. He didn't listen and one night walked off into the Emerald Forest, disappearing. His body was never found, but pieces of StormFlower were discovered around a large pool of blood.

That was how they found the nest of Grimm that had gathered in the forest. While they had been focused on protecting the city, the Grimm had assembled in the forest for an all out assault. Somehow, Cinder found a way to control the Grimm and make them follow her orders. There were too many to attack directly so that started a series of hit-and-run attacks to whittle away their numbers. Not that it did any good in the end.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Each step Ruby took brought her closer to the top of the hill, to her destination. The tombstones around her brought ghosts from all times to her memory. All these people had fallen during what was now known as the Vale Civil War. There were lines upon lines of tombstones, grave-markers, and other sculptures that marked where each of the fallen now lay. There were so many. Too many.

The Grimm kept coming; no matter how many they killed. Before long, Cinder directed them at Beacon, and they were besieged. For near a month, they held out under constant waves of Grimm. Many students and full-fledged hunters had died in that siege. Oobleck, Port, Goodwitch, and even Ozpin himself died defending the school, each taking down hundreds of Grimm before they fell. Team SSSN were also among the casualties, not wanting to leave after the festival, and died defending the school.

Weiss had recovered from her injury and was defending the western front when an Ursa Rex blindsided her due to her injured eye. With her Aura almost depleted from the near constant fighting, she had no chance as the Ursa's claws tore gashes in her back, its claws coming out of her chest. Ruby had noticed too late to save Weiss, but sure as hell killed that Ursa. Weiss died in Ruby's arms, mirroring Penny's last moments, as just another casualty. Ruby could still see her friend's blood on her hands if she looked hard enough.

At that point, Ruby's silver eyes lit up and covered the battlefield, turning the Grimm to dust. That had bought them some time.

Eventually Beacon had to be evacuated though, as the Grimm's numbers had overwhelmed them in time. But there were too many Grimm preventing the remaining airships from taking off, so Jaune and a few other volunteers stayed behind to give them time to escape. Pyrrha protested and Jaune's last words to her were "I'm sorry," before he jumped out of the Bullhead. Both Ruby and Yang had to keep Pyrrha from jumping out to join Jaune. Surprisingly, Cardin and the remains of his team had stayed with Jaune, any animosity forgotten in that moment of understanding one has when they knew they were going to die.

All those that stayed behind did, but gave the others a chance to live another day.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

The next few weeks were brutal. The remaining Vale military and Beacon's Hunters fought the White Fang, Cinder's forces, and the Grimm. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Yang were the remaining members of JNPR and RWBY and were often on the front lines of battle. Pyrrha was the next to go, but not in the way that they expected. A Deathstalker clipped her in the side and they barely got her to the medics to prevent the venom from consuming her. However it left her weak and susceptible to disease, so she was moved to strategy, away from the battlefield. Like Ren before her, she withdrew into herself at Jaune's death. She later admitted to Ruby that she loved him, but never admitted it. Ruby nearly admitted something similar years later while visiting Pyrrha in the hospital, but lost her courage and fell quiet.

There was a whole family reunion for the Xiao Long-Branwen-Rose family, as Taiyang and Qrow became the new leaders, or figureheads, for the allied forces after Ozpin's death. It was during this time that Yang's long lost mother returned to much shouting, cursing, threats and carrying out said threats, fighting, crying, more shouting, and eventually a tense truce until the conflict ended.

The fighting continued until, by some miracle, they reached a truce with the White Fang. It was born out of necessity and joint survival, as the Grimm didn't differentiate between Human and Faunus. Yang had killed Adam during one of their encounters, which had reduced the southern half of the city to rubble from their battle before she got revenge for Blake's death. Torchwick had reappeared, looking worse for wear, as the new de-facto leader of the Fang and was now totally against Cinder as she had turned into even more of a "pyromaniac, psycho bitch hell-bent on getting power" than before the war.

He gave the location of where Cinder had holed up before he was assassinated by Mercury and Emerald, both of whom had met their deaths soon after by the sister's and Neo's retaliation.

They hit Cinder's position hard. It was fierce and many died in the battle, but Qrow managed to land the final blow against Cinder, right before he died as well. With the allied forces victorious, they reduced the old castle to rubble, burying everything inside, Human, Faunus, and Grimm alike. Soon after, the White Fang officially surrendered and people of Vale thought that they had peace.

Ruby should have known it wasn't over.

About a week later, another wave of Grimm attacked Vale, putting an end to the celebrations. More had died, and Ruby lost her leg when an Alpha Beowolf bit it off during one of her more acrobatic moves. She almost died then, but Yang carried her back to the hospital and they had given her a robotic replacement leg. However, it couldn't hold up when Ruby used her Semblance.

The speed that she always enjoyed could never be achieved again.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby grimaced as she thought back to when her new leg was first attached. Even when she had soft shoes on, it still made a thumping sound even before it malfunctioned. She could move it and use it just fine, but it didn't feel right. It felt even worse now after it malfunctioned, with eight years of having it not helping. It just wasn't a part of her. It was like someone had clamped a piece of metal that you could control onto you. It just wasn't her.

Cinder had survived somehow and escaped after they attacked the castle and had gathered more Grimm to her side, now fighting just to wipe out Vale completely, forgetting her insane goal of becoming Queen of Remnant. The sides that had previously fought now banded together to take her down.

The last battle took place eight years ago today and was a desperate struggle. Man, woman, Human, Faunus all fought against the Grimm, and died. Ruby was there, swinging Crescent Rose, her eyes shining, ending Grimm lives. Just with a little less speed than she was renowned for due to her new leg. Eventually, Yang and Ruby fought their way to Cinder. No words were spoken as all three attacked each other. The sisters eventually killed Cinder for good, Ruby making the killing decapitation, but the Grimm were too numerous and the allies needed to escape.

The order to retreat was given, but it was a fighting retreat. Ruby didn't notice that Yang wasn't with them until she glanced back and saw a single yellow dot amongst the sea of black, red, and white. She tried rushing to her, but her leg couldn't handle the pressure her Semblance tried to put into it this time and failed, stiffening up, unable to bend at the knee anymore. The leg was ruined and because it was attached to the skin, they couldn't remove it and replace it, otherwise the nerve endings would have been too badly damaged to even make another prosthetic.

Ruby watched on as the yellow dot vanished under that sea just before a wave of flames blew outwards and _vaporized_ the Grimm around her. A smoking crater was all that was left of where the Grimm were. In the center was one splash of color.

One speck of burning gold.

Her eyes couldn't help this time.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Ruby stopped as she reached the top of the hill. In front of her were seven tombstones, Four and then three behind that.

First was Team JNPR: Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. All four names were now down in the history books as heroes. Pyrrha was the last one to go, suffering from sicknesses the rest of her life from the Deathstalker's poison, practically living in the hospital for three years, until she caught one too many sicknesses. Her body just gave out on her, leading to her passing away peacefully in her sleep, the only one out of them to do so. Her grave was put between Nora and Ren's, to complete the Team's name. The remains of Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha were buried there, with Ren's weapons in lieu of his body. Crocea Mors had been given back to the Arc family, continuing down the line.

Ruby shuffled to each of their graves and put a flower on each. Jaune got a magnolia and a henbane as remembrance to his self-proclaimed 'lady killer' days, Nora got a coreopsis, which fit her personality perfectly, Pyrrha, a motherwort and a snapdragon, and Ren, a lotus like his symbol was.

Ruby stood in front of their graves in silence, finding the words to say. She then spoke softly, "I know it's been a while, but I'm here again. I just wanted to tell you I'll never forget you four. You stood by us through it all: in laughs and fun, and when the going got though. We could always count on you to have our backs wherever we were, and we always had yours. I don't think words can fully explain how grateful we… I am for you. I'm proud to have called you all my friends. And you always will be. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora. I'll never forget."

Ruby turned away, holding back tears, and moved past them to the three graves behind them. WBY. The three people who have known Ruby the best. They stuck together through it all for as long as they lived. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. All heroes of the Vale Civil War. Ruby didn't care about the title they all carried. It didn't mean anything to her as there were more important titles they had. They were gone. Never to be seen again in this world.

Ruby went to Weiss' grave first and placed a red and a white rose intertwined on the headstone. "Hey Weiss. It's been a while hasn't it? I'm not exactly as fast as I used to be, though no fault of my own, so you can't hold that against me this time." Ruby cracked a tearful smile. "I don't suppose you'll ever forget how we met. If we knew how much that accident would change us, would we still do it again? I'd like to believe so. Heh, I can almost hear you say, _'of course you dolt'_. I never grew tired of hearing you call me that. It just showed me how much you cared for me. I don't think I ever admitted it, but I might have secretly wanted you to call me that, just so I could know that you cared. It was all that I could get…" She trailed off, some things still unsaid, still not admitted. "You were my partner, and I always will treasure that forever. See you Snow Angel."

Ruby moved over to Blake's. "Blake, you're probably wishing that you had a book right now. Or maybe you ended up in a giant library for all I know. I just hope you're happy. You might already know this if Yang's there with you, but she got Adam for you. She almost shut down after you died, but pulled through to save everybody. I think it might have been you spurring her on, even in death. You were an inspiration to us all. You were brave enough to change who you were so you could make your _own_ choices, choose the life _you_ wanted. You were one of the first people I got along with at Beacon, and proved that I could have friends outside of Yang." Ruby placed a kennedia on her grave. "Thank you."

She turned to the last grave, tears falling freely. She fought to keep her voice steady. "Yang. Sis. _Long_ time no see." Ruby smirked. "See, I can do puns too. You'd probably be proud of me for that. Things aren't the same anymore, and some of it's good! Vale's been rebuilt, Beacon's running again and guess what, I'm a teacher now! Can you believe that? Who'd want some old cripple teaching them? Yeah, yeah, I'm not _that_ old, but it's the thought. Dad hired me as the new Blacksmith and Weapons Crafter for Beacon, and I also teach combat classes along side your Mom. She's… an interesting person to work with… tends to rub people the wrong way, but you already knew that. It's too bad you never had the chance to reconcile with her…"

After a pause Ruby spoke again, softer, quieter. "You saved us all, you know. Your stubbornness saved everyone again during the retreat. All of Vale thinks you're a hero and there's statues of us being placed. I _know_ that you're a hero. I knew that ages before anyone else when we were kids. You'd always look out for me, always take care of me, bake me cookies, arrange my birthday parties, and give Yule gifts to… You were always my hero Yang…"

Ruby couldn't take it and collapsed crying, her false leg sticking out at an odd angle. "Oh Oum, it hurts. It hurts that you're gone. It's been years but it still hurts. I miss you so much." Ruby didn't talk for a while as her sobs overwhelmed her. She cried for ages mourning everyone. It hurt, and it was a pain that would never go away. As she cried, snowflakes started drifting down from the sky, lightly coating the ground.

"I-I'm sorry," Ruby said, sniffling as she wiped her nose and tears away. "I just… I feel it Yang. As much as you'll probably tell me otherwise, I know I don't have long left before I'm taking my spot in the ground next to Weiss. I feel old, older than my twenty-five year old body. I know it's not going to happen immediately, but I can feel it. Don't worry, I'll make the most of my life while I can; teach others how to build their own sniper-scythes and use them properly like Uncle Qrow did for me, maybe become headmistress for a while after Dad retires. But I know I'll die sooner rather than later. I just… feel it. I'll see you again, along with Weiss and Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Not for years though hopefully. But I'll see you again."

Ruby looked up at the sky, blinking away snowflakes and tears that got in her eyes. She sighed and placed a sunflower and a yellow tulip on her grave. "I love you Yang. My sister." She looked at the three graves in front of her. "My sisters."

Ruby put a hand on Yang's stone and pushed herself up, her leg protesting the awkward movement before she steadied herself. Ruby gazed at the stones around her before smiling in memory. She started walking away.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

Step- _thunk_.

The constant sound of her life sounded less ominous now, as if a question had been answered, a gift given.

Ruby went back down the path that she took out of the cemetery. As she walked, a song, almost forgotten came to her lips. She sung softly at first, but built strength later until her voice rang through the cemetery.

 _~"I saw the light fade from the sky,  
_ _On the wind I heard a sigh.  
_ _As the snowflakes cover  
_ _my fallen sisters  
_ _I will say this last goodbye._

 _Night is now falling,  
_ _So ends this day.  
_ _The road is now calling  
_ _And I must away._

 _Over hill, and under tree,  
_ _Through lands where never light has shone,  
_ _By silver streams that run down to the sea._

 _Under cloud, beneath the stars,  
_ _Over snow and winter's morn  
_ _I turn at last to paths that lead home,_

 _And though where the road then takes me,  
_ _I cannot tell.  
_ _We came all this way  
_ _But now comes the day  
_ _To bid you farewell._

 _Many places I have been,  
_ _Many sorrows I have seen;  
_ _But I don't regret,  
_ _Nor will I forget  
_ _All who took that road with me._

 _Night is now falling,  
_ _So ends this day.  
_ _The road is now calling  
_ _And I must away._

 _Over hill, and under tree,  
_ _Through lands where never light has shone,  
_ _By silver streams that run down to the sea._

 _To these memories I will hold,  
_ _With your blessing I will go  
_ _To turn at last to paths that lead home,_

 _And though where the road then takes me,  
_ _I cannot tell  
_ _We came all this way  
_ _But now comes the day  
_ _To bid you farewell."~_

Ruby turned to look behind her, the tombstones on top of the hill just barely visible. Softly, she sang one last line.

 _~"I bid you all a very fond farewell…"~_

* * *

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Song: _The Last Goodbye_ -by Howard Shore

* * *

 **This never gets easier to read or write. Had to stop a few times to get a grip on myself. If you want to see the flower meanings, check the notes at the bottom of the original version.**

 **And this will be the last version, so this is enough.**

 **Once again, please remember the fallen heroes**

 **-OrangeGalen**


End file.
